Last month, Samsung announced its latest offering in the mid range segment, the Galaxy A9 (2018). Although the phone is yet to go on sale anywhere and we don’t even know if it’s coming to India or not, the A9 2018 has earned itself some buzz for being the first consumer smartphone with a quad…
Last month, S amsung announced its latest offering in the mid range segment, the Galaxy A9 (2018). Although the phone is yet to go on sale anywhere and we don’t even know if it’s coming to India or not, the A9 2018 has earned itself some buzz for being the first consumer smartphone with a quad camera setup at the back. Samsung debuted the A9 when other OEMs had just started embracing triple camera setups on their phone. The brand took a huge leap forward and fit four rear cameras in a phone. While some marked it as a marketing gimmick, we now have detailed information on what these four cameras do individually. So, let’s take a closer look.
The highlight of the phone, as explained it the video, is its 24MP+8MP+10MP+5MP quad-camera setup at the back. Let’s take a look at them one-by-one:
The 24MP sensor is the main camera, which has 27mm FoV in 35mm equivalent film, and phase-detection autofocus. It is mated to a lens with a wide f/1.7 aperture so night-time photography should be not an issue with the A9 as well. Regardless of the other cameras, the A9 features quite a potent primary camera for a mid-range phone.
The second sensor on the A9 is a super wide angle 8MP sensor with an f/2.4 aperture lens. It has a super-wide 120 degree field-of-view which adds a whole new dimension to your landscape shots. Wide angle cameras have been around for some time, but LG was the only one using them until now. Starting this year though, other manufacturers have started to jump aboard the wide-angle train too. Well, the emergence of this new trend makes us excited.
Next on the list is the 10MP sensor, coupled with a f/2.4 aperture telephoto lens, enabling upto 2X optical zoom. This means that you can take close up shots without moving, capture distant objects with clarity and achieve blur-free zoomed in images using the optical zoom on this lens.
Last but not least, we have a 5MP depth sensor coupled with an f/2.2 lens, which helps capture depth information for portrait photos. So now, you can not only adjust the background blur applied to your portrait pictures, you can also select which area you want to be in focus, even after the picture has been clicked.
We’ll have to wait for actually spending some time with the A9 to see how these cameras combine to deliver a satisfying camera experience but as of now, it surely looks like Samsung has gone for the overkill with this all-new quad-camera setup on the A9.
The Galaxy A9 (2018) is one of the better-looking smartphones launched in 2018. It features a glass body design, with gradient color patterns at the back adding a distinct look to the phone. At the front of the device is Samsung’s well known Super AMOLED display, coming in at 6.3 inches here, with a resolution of 1080×2220. The phone is powered by the tried and tested Snapdragon 660 processor and comes with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. There’s also scope for memory expansion via microSD card. The phone runs on Android Oreo 8.0 and packs in a solid 3800mAh battery. Along with the super impressive quad cameras at the back, the phone comes with a 24MP selfie shooter with a f/2.0 aperture lens and support for HDR. Other features include a USB Type-C charging port, support for Dual-Band Wi-Fi, Samsung’s Adaptive Fast Charging, and Dual Nano SIM support.
The phone is expected to launch on November 15th in select markets, starting with China and Europe. It’s yet to be seen when will it launch in India, but early estimates tell us that it should happen not later than December. The pricing of the Galaxy A9 will be crucial in determining its fate in the Indian market though. If the European pricing is any indication, the A9 could come to India at a price tag of somewhere around 35K-40K, which will put it in direct competition with some quality phones like the Oneplus 6T, LG G7 ThinQ and the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3. Compared to these phones, all of which boast of flagship specifications and top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845, the A9 does fall short as it features only an SD660, but it can more than make up for it by offering unmatched camera performance. What do you think? Does a mid-range phone with killer cameras make more sense to you or you’d instead choose a proper flagship, compromising on the camera features a bit? Either way, we are excited about this new emerging trend in the smartphone market and 2019 sure looks like a promising year for smartphones.
While the Galaxy A9 (2018) is yet to make its entry into the markets, you may want to know more about another recently launched phone by Samsung, the Galaxy Note 9. Check out review video for the Note 9 below and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
